This invention relates to a waterproof structure of an electronic parts-containing box such as a connector block mounted in a panel hole in a vehicle body panel of a vehicle or the like.
Many wire harnesses are installed, for example, on a vehicle body of a vehicle, and among these wire harnesses, there are some each passing through a panel hole in a vehicle body panel separating the inside and outside of a car room from each other. Thus, the wire harness is passed through the panel hole, and this wire harness is installed at the inside and outside of the car room, and therefore has a large overall length, and can not be easily handled, and besides there is a possibility that the wire harness is passed through the panel hole in the wrong direction. Therefore, it has been proposed to connect an inside wire harness at the inside of the car room to an outside wire harness at the outside of the car room by the use of connectors (JP-B-4-38468U).
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 11, a connector block 40 is passed through a panel hole 42 in a panel 41 from the outside of a car room, and a flange 44 is abutted against a face of the panel 41 through a packing 43, and the flange 44 is fixedly secured to the face of the panel 41 by bolts 45 and nuts 46. A connector 48, connected to an inside wire harness 47 (installed at the inside of the room), is attached to the connector block 40 at the inside of the room, and a grommet 51 on an outside wire harness 50 (installed at the outside of the room) is mounted in a grommet mounting portion 49, and a connector 52, connected to the outside wire harness 50, is fitted relative to the inside connector 48 to be electrically connected thereto. Then, retaining holes 55, formed in a cover 54 having a packing 53 affixed to an inner side thereof, are engaged respectively with retaining projections 56 on the connector block 40, thereby attaching the cover 54 to the connector block 40, and in this manner the two wire harnesses 47 and 50 can be electrically connected together in the interior of the connector block 40 sealed in a waterproof manner.
Thus, for attaching the cover 54 to the connector block 40, the retaining holes 55 in the cover 54 are engaged respectively with the retaining projections 56 on the connector block 40, and the packing 53 is compressed to form a seal between the cover 54 and the connector block 40, thereby ensuring the waterproof effect. In some cases, however, the rate of compression of the packing 53 is low with the engagement (resin locking) between the retaining holes 55 and the retaining projections 56, and in such a case there is a possibility that water intrudes through a gap between the cover 54 and the connector block 40.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, there has been proposed a construction in which a cover 60 and a connector block body 62 are fastened together by screw members (not shown), thereby sufficiently compressing a packing 61, interposed between the cover 60 and the connector block body 61, so as to enhance a waterproof performance.
Although a waterproof seal between the cover 60 and the connector block body 62 is enhanced by the packing 61 sufficiently compressed upon fastening by the screw members, through holes 63 for the insertion (or passage) of the screw members therethrough must be formed in the cover 60, and therefore there is a possibility that water intrudes into the interior of the connector block body 62 through a gap in each through hole 63.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a waterproof structure of an electronic parts-containing box which suppresses the intrusion of water through a gap in a through hole.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a waterproof structure of an electronic parts-containing box comprising:
a containing box body; and
a front cover, mounted on the containing box body so as to cover a opening portion thereof;
wherein either the containing box body or the front cover has a through hole; and
wherein a water intrusion suppressing portion is formed on a face of either the containing box body or the front cover so as to suppress an intrusion of water which flows on the face into the through hole.
In this configuration, the intrusion of the water into the through hole is suppressed by the water intrusion-suppressing portion, and therefore the water is prevented from intruding into the containing box body through a gap in the through hole.
Preferably, the water intrusion suppressing portion is a guide wall which is formed on the face of either the containing box body or the front cover, and is disposed near to the through hole, so as to guide the water in a direction which is different from a direction in which the water flows toward the through hole.
Here, it is preferable that the guide wall is a peripheral wall which surrounds at least a part of a circumference of the through hole.
Here, it is preferable that the guide wall is a peripheral wall in which a lower part of the peripheral wall is open in a direction of gravity when the face of either the containing box body or the front cover is inclined.
In this configurations, the water intrusion-suppressing portion is thus formed by the guide wall, and therefore the water, flowing in the direction toward the through hole, is guided in the different direction by the guide wall, and therefore the intrusion of the water into the containing box body through the gap in the through hole is suppressed with this simple construction.
Preferably, the waterproof structure comprising a fastening member, which threads through the through hole to fasten the front cover and the containing box body. The water intrusion suppressing portion is a rib which formed around at least a part of a circumference of the through hole. The rib is crushed by an abutment face of the fastening member so as to seal a gap between the face and the abutment face of the fastening member when the containing box body and the front cover are fastened together by the fastening member.
In this configuration, the water intrusion-suppressing portion is formed by the rib, and therefore when the containing box body and the front cover are fastened together by the fastening member, the rib is crushed to seal the gap between the face of the one member (having the through hole) of either the containing box body or the front cover and the abutment face of the fastening member, and therefore the intrusion of the water into the containing box body through the gap in the through hole is suppressed with this simple construction.
Preferably, the fastening member includes a bolt and a nut. Either the bolt or the nut is secured to either the containing box body or the front cover which does not have the through hole.
In this configuration, the fastening member includes the bolt and the nut, and therefore the containing box body and the front cover can be positively firmly fastened together with this simple construction.